“Unfortunately, we don’t have a budget to pay musicians, but this is a great opportunity for exposure!”
Every musician and/or artist will come across this at some point. Venues will either say they can only pay you in pizza or they can’t pay you at all, but the exposure will be great! Some venues will even require you to pay them to play on their stage. There is some diseased mindset that musicians and artists are a sub-human race that will do anything to share their talent. WRONG!
Being a serious musician isn’t easy. You have to wear many hats – manager, booking agent, accountant, songwriter, performer, etc. Many people don’t realize how much blood, sweat and tears is put into our craft, and they think of our talent as a luxury, something disposable. By playing for pizza, for free or even paying to play, we are enabling our own demise. We must TAKE A STAND AND SAY NO! Now watch this video…
If we don’t take a stand for ourselves who will?! If a venue wants you to pay them to play, they are either shady, stingy or you don’t have a big enough fan base to impress them. Find the venues in town that support you as a musician, not the ones that want to use you and give nothing in return.
But you say you want to play that giant auditorium or festival?
Well my friend, you will if you keep working hard and continue building your fan base. But I’ll let you in on a little secret…always play venues that you can sell out. If that means playing small bars and coffee houses than so be it! It’s better to sell out a small venue than to play a giant stage with a quarter of the seats filled. If other venues see that you are selling out shows, they will be the ones knocking at your door.
So don’t be discouraged if you are only playing coffee houses. Every successful musician started out just like you and I, playing house parties, coffee houses and even sidewalks. You are worth more than pizza, so don’t give them a reason to think otherwise! If you can’t find a venue who will fairly compensate you, then create your own! Don’t settle just because you think it’s the only way.
ARISE AND SEIZE THE DAY!
AMANDA LEE PEERS 
It’s always impressive when a person speaks from a reserved , humble position . It let’s the reader know that the writer is not on some lofty , high chair of pride and , well , whatever !
As far as the advise , I keep in mind .
I have to play catch up to all your other blogs , Love Dad